What should not be forgotten was where Somerset were when he took the job on eight seasons ago. In 2005, the club finished second from bottom of the County Championship, above only Derbyshire in the Division Two table.

We did win the Twenty20 Cup under the captaincy of Graeme Smith, but there was a huge job to do to make the team competitive in all formats.

Having been the most successful skipper in Somerset’s history himself, Brian knew the importance of having the right leader on the pitch.

Hence the arrival of Justin Langer as a player for a short spell in 2006 and then captain the following season when he led us to promotion in the Championship as Division Two champions.

Brian had the vision to turn things around at Taunton in the space of a couple of years, not just in terms of the first team, but in the way the club developed its youngsters.

Our Academy has been among the most successful in the country in recent years, producing a string of talented players and I know Brian is rightly proud of the part he has played in that.

His management skills helped in the re-structuring of the cricketing side of the club, while Richard Gould, who was appointed as chief executive by then chairman Giles Clarke around the same time, worked on improving the administrative side.

Together they put in the groundwork to take Somerset to where we are today, considered among the favourites at the start of all domestic competitions.

Successive captains, myself included, have striven to emulate Brian’s success in the role during what are still considered the club’s glory years.

We are talking about the late 1970s and early 80s, which demonstrates what a fantastic servant he has been to Somerset over much longer than his spell as director of cricket.

He came as close as it is possible to get to achieving his dream of seeing the club win the County Championship in 2010 when we finished level on points with Nottinghamshire, only to miss out because they had won one more game.

Sadly, close, but not close enough, became the story too often. We now have to move on and continue the efforts to get across the finishing line with someone else at the helm.

Brian will be a very difficult man to follow. I have worked closely with him and coach Andy Hurry over the past three years and he is very professional in everything he does.

His judgement of a player has seen us make some fantastic signings and I have developed an enormous respect for his knowledge of the game and his management style.

One of his dreams was to watch a Somerset team packed with local talent, which is one I share. As someone who was brought up watching the club, I know the special passion that breeds and you cannot have enough of it.

I have always found it an extra incentive to win matches, not just for myself and the team, but the supporters and the people of Somerset, who I am proud to be among.

Brian was brought up in Weston-super-Mare and that is no doubt where his own love of the club developed. It drove him to be a winner as captain and to instigate the many improvements he has overseen as director of cricket.

If you look at the counties who are most successful year in, year out, they tend to be the Test match hosting clubs with the greatest resources.

Somerset, in comparison, is like a small town in the middle of nowhere. We have to draw on other assets such as good organisation and shrewd recruitment, which Brian has been responsible for.

While he would love to see Somerset win the Championship, he has always insisted that we treat each competition equally and give it our best shot, even when crippled by injuries as we have often been this season.

He has also insisted on playing positive, entertaining cricket and brought about the signings to make that happen, one reason why we continue to draw such good crowds to Taunton.

History will record that he did not win trophies as director of cricket, but in every other way he brought the club from nothing to being very strong.

His successor will have that to build on. Poor Somerset performances make Brian feel physically sick and he did his utmost to keep them to an absolute minimum

He should feel very proud, not only of the last eight seasons, but his immense contribution to Somerset over more than 30 years.